impossible, though the seasonal distribution of rainfall is of great importance. The moisture-laden atmosphere must pass from a warmer to a cooler temperature, or the moisture will not condense and precipitate. In the tropics the wind is from an easterly direction; and in the temperate zones it is prevailingly, though not exclusively, westerly. Hence the land in the tropics with no mountain barriers on the east to cut off the rain, and land in the temperate zones with no barriers on the west, will be well watered. For example, Brazil being in the path of the trade winds gets an abundance of moisture; in fact, too much for the easy control of nature. In the United States mountain barriers on the west cut off the moisture leaving a large dry area on the western plateau. Such an area, unless it can be irrigated, is a natural stock raising district. The eastern part of the United States receives enough moisture from easterly and southerly winds to make it a favorable agricultural section. Australia might be a rich and fertile country, if it were not for the mountain ranges on the east which cut off the moisture leaving a dry area in the interior fit only for grazing. Winds and mountain ranges therefore are the chief factors determining agricultural regions, and hence those parts of the earth's surface which may be populous and progressive.

Agricultural life is superior to pastoral not merely because it supports a larger population, but because it permits a settled mode of life and favors the development of a greater variety of the arts. Pastoral peoples usually seek new pasture ground at least every six months, hence they cannot build permanent houses and develop an architecture; and their property must be confined to goods which may easily be transported from place to place. Pottery cannot be one of their arts, as it is too bulky and too fragile for transportation; their bottles are made of skins. The manufacture of rugs and textiles is their natural form of art, for these commodities are easily transported and moreover the raw materials for their manufacture are furnished by their domesticated animals.

The mental and moral traits of peoples also develop naturally out of their modes of life, as Professor Huntington? so clearly

1

demonstrates. Among nomadic peoples hospitality to strangers becomes an indispensable virtue, since individual members of a tribe may have to wander far in search of cattle. At the same time among the tribes themselves there may exist fierce and long-continued hostility, owing to competition for pastures. Such traits of character as laziness, thrift, or honesty may be due to climate, to the abundance or scarcity of water and food, or to proximity to other tribes. The position of women is almost always low among pastoral peoples, for they are of little importance in the chief economic activities. The enforced absence of the men from the tribe for considerable periods of time contributes to instability in the family relation.

Among an agricultural population mental characteristics depend upon the type of agriculture practised. Farmers who rely upon rainfall, especially where it is scant, live isolated lives. They develop independence, extreme individualism, democratic sentiments, and have little sense of responsibility. Farmers who depend upon irrigation dwell in more concentrated areas. They develop more of the coöperative spirit, feel a greater amount of interdependence, and are more progressive intellectually.

Sea-faring life. While the greater part of the world's population has turned to agriculture for support, a few peoples have followed the sea. As sea-faring life is more dangerous and venturesome than life on land, in early times something more than proximity to the sea was necessary to stimulate people to follow that life. The chief conditions essential to it seem to have been a land-locked harbor, well protected from storms, and a narrow coast hemmed in by mountains. The mountains render impossible the agricultural life, hinder any scattering of the people, and at the same time they usually furnish convenient material for the building of ships. The Jews were able to find a sufficient amount of agricultural land in Palestine, so that they never entered the sea-faring life; but the Phoenicians were cut off from the plains by mountains and became the great maritime people of the ancient world. The Norsemen had a plentiful supply of wood for ship-building near the coast, and

1 E. C. Semple, Influences of Geographic Environment, pp. 15, 16 and 257.

they developed skill and confidence in the management of ships in their protected fiords before entering the open sea. The New England colonists developed a maritime life because agricultural lands were not available and timber for ship-building was near at hand. And Shaler 1 points out the fact that maritime life declined when the Mississippi valley was open to agriculture. The energy and enterprise which formerly found an outlet in sea-faring life was diverted to the subjugation of the frontier. Sea-faring peoples are venturesome, hardy, and courageous, and yet they develop a strong sense of sympathy and responsibility for victims of misfortune. As their lives are a struggle with elements which cannot be controlled they develop many superstitions.

Mining. Mining is naturally confined to mountainous districts where the upturned strata of the earth's crust have made the metals easily available. Mining peoples do not necessarily lead a life of individual isolation. They may be gathered into communities; but, as they live in inaccessible districts, they develop and retain peculiar traits of their own. All mountainous peoples are noted for their individualism and their love of freedom; but miners add to these characteristics traits derived from the uncertain character of their occupation. A great element of chance enters into the discovery of metals, and miners are accustomed to conditions in which fortunes are easily made and lost. The uncertainty of reward for labor favors the gambling instinct, which is in no way restrained by social conventions. Mining conditions attract the male rather than the female sex and migration from camp to camp is easy for the unsuccessful. Circumstances favor temporary and unsettled modes of living. In newer mining communities, therefore, is to be found a degree of roughness and lawlessness unknown in other kinds of communities.

Industrial and commercial life. The next stage of economic development after the agricultural includes the industrial and commercial, which are closely related and may be considered together. Manufacturing industries may arise under a variety of conditions, for several kinds of influences favor them. They

1 N. S. Shaler, Nature and Man in America, p. 200.

are ordinarily located near centers of population, because then they have the double advantage of recourse to an adequate labor supply and of proximity to markets. On the other hand it is also true that, industries themselves tend to build up centers of population and wealth. The noteworthy characteristic of manufacturing industries is their use of a large amount of labor and capital with a small amount of land; and they are therefore able to support a large concentrated population, provided always that their products are exchangeable, directly or indirectly, with agricultural peoples for food. A minor advantage in location for manufacturing is proximity to raw materials, but in most cases these can be transported to the centers of industry. In early times the great determining factor in the location of industry was water power, - a physical factor; and at the present time proximity to some source of power is still imperative.

The early development of manufacturing in New England was due to its peculiar environmental conditions. New England is a part of the glaciated section of the country which had terminal moraines, and these left it rough and rocky. The result is that the rivers are not navigable but have many falls and rapids which afford abundant water power. Furthermore these same conditions have left the section ill adapted to agriculture; hence in a negative way also the environment favored manufacturing because it did not attract the population permanently to agriculture.

Notable progress in industrial lines at the present time cannot be made without the basic industry which enters into all others, namely, steel. The steel industry requires either the existence, in close proximity, of iron, coal, and limestone, or else the location of iron where it may be transported cheaply to a coal district. These conditions exist in many parts of the world; but thus far the most extensive development of such favored regions has taken place in the United States, England, and Central Europe, making these places the great industrial centers of the world.

Inasmuch as manufacturing industries require concentration of population, division of labor and trade relations, environmental conditions which favor commerce are of great importance in hastening the development of localities in themselves adapted to industry. Commerce is still greatly assisted by natural highways of communication, though thus far man has altered the environment more through improved means of communication than in any other way. The means of communication afforded by nature are either waterways or valleys, the latter often following present or past river courses. Mountain ranges are barriers even in advanced civilizations and the few favorable passes to be found in mountain ranges are of the greatest assistance to trade.

In the matter of means of communication the United States is well favored, the most formidable barrier being the Rocky Mountain chain, which does form a serious impediment to communication between the Pacific coast and the East. For the rest of the country there is a natural drainage to the south by the Mississippi River and its tributaries, and to the east by the Great Lakes and the Mohawk Valley to New York City. The natural highways therefore are to the south and to the east. Of these we have so far availed ourselves of the eastward route to a much greater extent than we have of the southward, because of the better harbors in the east and its nearness to Europe. The fact that the United States “ drains ” towards the east has been of the utmost importance in the rapid development of the country. Europe faces the west and therefore no barriers exist to our trade and intercourse with that continent which has the most highly developed civilization. Because of the fact that Europe and North America face each other they are destined to become more and more closely united, rather than separated, by the Atlantic Ocean. Trade with the Orient is physically much more difficult than trade with Europe; however, its early development would have been less advantageous as well.

The physical features which directly stimulate trade with foreign countries are, first, the existence of good harbors; and, secondly, good means of communication from the hinterland to these harbors. In the United States the best harbors are situated on the northeastern coast because the gradual submergence of the land in this area has caused the sea to penetrate the indentations of the land. On the Pacific coast submerged val